Editorial: Falling enrollment a challenge for Michigan schools

If you walk through your child’s school this week, you might see a few empty seats in the classrooms. School enrollment in Michigan has fallen in the last generation.

That’s the picture from the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. A new report concludes that three of five school districts had fewer students in 2009 than in 1995.

The loss has hit large districts such as Detroit, Flint and Jackson especially hard. But this is a demographic issue more than an urban problem. Smaller households, an aging population and Michigan’s job losses all lead to fewer students. That may change, particularly if there’s an economic rebound, but don’t count on it any time soon.

School districts that expect to survive will have to be creative in making do with less, as many businesses and organizations have done in the past decade.